BLESSED - Postulação de Francisco e Jacinta Marto

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BLESSED
FRANCISCO AND JACINTA MARTO
BULLETIN OF THE LITTLE SHEPHERDS (202) –– JULY - SEPTEMBER 2011 (49thYear)
BLESSED FRANCISCO MARTO
A boy with his feet
on the ground
and his heart in God
Francisco afraid of falling?! The little
fellow who used to run after his sheep
all over the hilly slopes, who used to
play his pipe on top of so many walls,
who frequently went off by himself to
Ângela de Fátima Coelho
Postulator for the Cause of the Canonisation of Francisco and Jacinta Marto
sit on top of a rock and contemplate
the scenery of the Serra de Aire which
In her Memoirs1, Lucia describes the following
spoke to him so much about God while
episode: ““One day, we were just outside Aljustrel,
he was saying his Rosary!
on our way to the Cova da Iria, when a group of
people came upon us by surprise around the bend
in the road. In order the better to see and hear us,
they set Jacinta and myself on top of a wall. Francisco refused to let himself be put there, as though
he were afraid of falling. Then, little by little, he
edged his way out and leaned against a dilapidated
wall on the opposite side. A poor woman and her
son, seeing that they could not manage to speak
to us personally, as they wished, went and knelt
down in front of Francisco to ask for a grace from
him. Francisco knelt down also, took off his cap
and asked if they would like to pray the Rosary
with him. They said they would, and began to pray.
Very soon, all those people stopped asking curious
questions, and also went down on their knees to
pray. (Fatima in Lucia’’s own Words, pp 162-3).
Sculpture of Francisco Marto at the Fatima Shrine
Portrait of Francisco
F
rancisco did not want to be put
in high places which did not belong
to him, because he humbly accepted
his lowly position, and showed no
desire for things that did not belong
to him. He was peace-loving and
docile by nature. He seemed to acknowledge the truth about himself.
Hence, this was where he wanted to
be and chose to be: ““down below””
and not ““up there””, walking realistically on the ground his feet were
treading on, in a serene acceptance
of himself and of the mission which
the Lord had entrusted to him.
It was in the place allotted to him, its nature and
condition, that he became a source of attraction. He
did not try to draw attention to himself, but pointed
towards God, towards the intimacy of prayer.
2
Why were people attracted by Francisco? Having
parted with the few things that he possessed 2, he lived
a poverty which enabled him to concentrate his heart on
God. So there was space within him for God to dwell.
His heart was lled with God and with the things that
concerned God: suffering and sinful humanity, and nature from the setting of the sun to animals.
Lucia tells us that contact with the Angel helped Francisco to understand better ““who God is, how He loves
us and desires to be loved”” (Memoirs, p. 170-1). Accordingly, he asked lots of questions about God, about
His love and about Our Lady. And it was in fact with
Our Lady that he grew in the knowledge of God, immediately after the rst apparition.
Wrapped in a feeling of enchantment and wonder
characteristic of childhood, he exclaimed: ““We were
on re in that light which is God, and yet we were not
burnt! What is God? We could never put it into words.
Yes, that is something indeed which we could never
express! (Memoirs, p. 147). I like to think of Francisco
asking questions, wondering, thirsting to know more.
I like to see in him, intact, the capacity for wonder so
typical of children.
Loca do Cabeço
This God, who was the centre of his life, seemed to
him so ““sad on account of people’’s sins”” and this
moved him deeply: ““But what a pity it is that He is so
sad! If only I could console Him! (p. 147). He took on
as his own this mission of consoling God. He carried
out his mission wherever he was, whether in the midst
of nature, but above all he loved to keep the ““hidden
Jesus”” company in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. He even felt that this vocation would continue to
be his in the world to come. When Lucia was urging
him to pray for various things shortly before he died,
he replied: ““But look, you’’d better ask Jacinta to pray
for these things instead, because I’’m afraid I’’ll forget
when I see Our Lord. And then, more than anything
else I want to console Him.””
Little Francisco can be for all of us a model from whom
we learn to embody the spirit of childhood which Jesus
presented as a model of the kingdom (Mk. 10, 14-16).
And this not because he was a child of 10, but rather
on account of his humility and simplicity, for his total
trust in God which enabled him to overcome his fear
when faced with difcult situations 3, his ability to become enchanted by a sense of the mysterious, for his
readiness to carry out God’’s plan for him, through the
Immaculate heart of Mary.
Francisco Marto’’s Picture
Though still only a child, he understood what was central to and most important in the Faith. He expressed this
awareness in his own way: ““I loved seeing the Angel,
but I loved still more seeing Our Lady. What I loved
most of all was to see Our Lord in that light from Our
Lady which penetrated our hearts”” (Fatima in Lucia’’s
own Words, p. 143). When we hear the way in which
this child manages to perceive the hierarchy of the truths
of faith, we yearn to pray as Jesus did: ‘‘I thank you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden
these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little ones’’ (Luke,10, 21).
When we see, in the life of Francisco, the reection of
that same light which captivated him, we give thanks
for the gift which his life, ““a candle which God has lit to
illumine humanity in its dark and anxious hours”” 4, constitutes for our own day in its anxious search for hope.
Sculpture of Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto located
at the Shrine
Though still only a child, he understood what was central to and
most important in the Faith. He
expressed this awareness in his
own way: ““I loved seeing the Angel, but I loved still more seeing
Our Lady. What I loved most of all
was to see Our Lord in that light
from Our Lady which penetrated
our hearts”” (Fatima in Lucia’’s
own Words, p. 143).
4
1 FATIMA IN LUCIA’’S OWN WORDS, Fatima, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos.
2 See the episode of the handkerchief with the image of Our Lady of Nazaré, the
numerous occasions when the children shared their sandwiches with the poor,
and even with the sheep and the birds. (Fatima in Lucia’’s own Words, pp. 139,
158, .....
3 See his attitude in Ourem while the children were in prison, and how he instilled courage and consoled both his cousin and his little sister (Fatima in
Lucia’’s own Words, p 148).
4 John Paul II, Homily at the Beatication of Francisco and Jacinta, 13th May,
2000.
The Postulation for Francisco and Jacinta
thanks all friends and benefactors for their
contributions to the expenses of the Cause for
their Canonisation, without which this work
could not continue.
Anyone wishing to make a contribution may do
so in the following way:
Banco Millennium BCP
NIB: 0033-0000-45340426373-05
IBAN: PT 50-0033-0000-45340426373-05
SWIFT: BCOMPTPL
BLESSED FRANCISCO AND JACINTA MARTO
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Quarterly Publication –– ISSN 1645-1341
Isento de registo na ERC ao abrigo do Dec. Reg.8/99 de 9/6 art.º 12 n.º 1 A
Director: Sr. Angela de Fatima Coelho, asm
Editor and Proprietor: Postulação de Francisco e Jacinta Marto
Address: Rua de S. Pedro, 9, Apartado 6 –– 2496-908 Fatima (Portugal)
Contact:
Ph. 00351 249 539 780 •• Fax 00351 249 539 780
e-mail: [email protected]
www.pastorinhos.com